Category: eSports

Since its inauguration in 2006, the Carolina Games Summit (CGS) has become a staple for the assembly of the video game community in the state of North Carolina. Although several other electronic sports companies have hosted events in the state, none of these other organizations have been headquartered nor as strongly focused on bringing North Carolinians frequent gaming entertainment in the form of friendly contests. It has been a few years since the last of the once annual Carolina Games Summit, and the event has surely been missed, especially by the gaming fanatics in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Luckily for them, the CGS will be returning on the weekend of February 4th-5th.

In the past, attendance for the CGS has exceeded 2,000 people. The event consists not only of competitive tournaments on a number of titles and consoles, but it also gathers companies and speakers looking to market the latest in technology and education. Not only does is the public provided with leisure and contests, but also with the means to acquire knowledge in areas about which they are interested and passionate.

The 2017 Carolina Games Summit will feature tournaments for games such as Halo 5, Madden 17, and Smash Brothers 4. Also, Red Storm Entertainment, a Ubisoft® studio, will be at the event to present to the attendees a chance to witness their latest Virtual Reality project along with educational seminars regarding the industry. Dark Unicorn Games, a relatively new company, will be showcasing their products in the trading card game arena. In the information and learning department, Serious Games will be in conjuncture with BioMojo LLC to establish virtual healthcare knowledge as well as training. Also, North Carolina State University and Fayetteville Technical Community College will be in attendance to exhibit and speak to the public.

The event will take place at the Wayne National Building, 139 W Walnut St, Goldsboro, NC 27530 and will operate on this schedule: Saturday, February 4, 10AM – 8:30PM and Sunday, February 5, 2017 10AM – 6:00PM. Tickets are $20 and cover entry into any tournament or session both days of the event. The event will offer industry speakers, video game tournaments, concerts, exhibition booths, cosplay, educational sessions, and trading card games. Therefore, you will surely be getting more than your money’s worth of entertainment, fun, and knowledge. It’s going to be an action-packed, lively weekend, be sure to clear your schedule and purchase your ticket. Don’t miss it!

Major League Gaming, a professional eSports organization headquartered in New York that has hosted some of the most successful competitive gaming events throughout North America as well as online internationally during the 21st century, has announced its first major competition for the recently released Gears of War 4. It has been five years since the last title in the franchise, Gears of War 3, was delivered to the public, and eSports competitors and enthusiasts who are fans of the series are ecstatic to see what this game holds for the industry. MLG has been a prominent host for LAN events for console eSports titles other than Gears of War, including Call of Duty and Halo.

The Major League Gaming Columbus Open will take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on the weekend of November 25-27, 2016. The tournament will consist of over 108 team competing for a chance to win a portion of the $250,000 prize pool that will be distributed among the top placers. The event will be an open bracket competition, and team passes along with spectator tickets have gone on sale at the Major League Gaming website. If you are a Gears of War fanatic looking to take your squad to the biggest stage possible, make sure you go ahead and reserve a team pass before they sell out.

For those who are looking to compete, you can begin qualifying for live event seeding as well as earn Gears of War Pro Points on MLG’s online competitive website, GameBattles. In some cases, players and teams who rack up enough Pro Points will be provided with funds to travel to Columbus in order to participate.

Earlier today, Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, the international governing body of association football, known as soccer to many North Americans, released a lengthy document titled “FIFA 2.0: The Vision for the Future”. In this 69 page script, Infantino discusses a well-written plan as to how to effectively grow the most beloved international sport as well as enhance the experience for players and fans while strengthening the institution as a whole. Although there are a multitude of areas of emphasis in which the FIFA president plans on achieving these goals, a particularly interesting point he made regards eSports.

Along with mentioning how successful the FIFA Interactive World Cup was this year, and although this has been a recurring event for FIFA gamers since 2004, the video game hasn’t received much attention in terms of elite competition on a grand scale. Seeing as soccer is the most popular sport in the world and that the eSports industry has grown exponentially over the past decade, Infantino realizes the potential of success that implementing more events such as the Interactive World Cup could generate. This could provide a unique experience for fans of and real-life soccer players alike, since just about everyone can compete and appreciate the matchups that video games bring about.

In the document, “FIFA 2.0: The Vision for the Future”, Infantino had this to say regarding eSports: As the world of gaming expands, FIFAhas a tremendous opportunity to mimicthe production of global events on thepitch with enhanced production of virtualFIFA competitions. To investigate thebenefits and feasibility of expandingFIFA’s engagement in eSports, FIFA willcommission a working group to considerits forward-looking strategy.

Denial Esports, an international competitive gaming organization which has rose to prominence in the industry over the past few years, has expanded their company with the signing of an Overwatch squad. Many other eSports organizations have begun branching out from their roots by signing teams and players to represent their companies on various titles such as Starcraft 2, League of Legends, etc. Denial Esports, recognizing the potential in the relatively new Blizzard FPS (First Person Shooter), Overwatch, have now made themselves as a competitor in this field as well, along with their teams that compete on other well-known PC franchises.

Overwatch began to receive attention from the eSports community upon its release, due to its great potential to be a great competitive title, both for the players along with its spectators. Several other popular eSports companies have acquired teams of their own to represent them in the Overwatch universe, and Denial now has one as well. The team is experienced in other First Person Shooters, such as Call of Duty and Team Fortress 2. With Overwatch’s popularity rising in the competitive gaming scene, expect more skilled players and teams to be signed by some of your favorite household eSports organizations as they too expand their companies.

In honor of its 10-year anniversary, ZOTAC, an organization which began by manufacturing state-of-the-art graphics cards, and steadily evolved into creating premium miniature personal computers, has announced its very first eSports competition. Counter Strike: Global Offensive will be the platform upon which this event will undergo, and the prize pool will consist of $25,000. Six teams will participate in this inaugural competition hosted by the innovative computer-based company, and $10,000 of the prize money will be distributed as straight-up monetary funds and the remaining $15,000 will be given out as ZOTAC merchandise.

The tournament is scheduled to take place from October 24-25 in Hong Kong with six top teams from Asia, Europe, and North America squaring off in a single-elimination, best-of-three tournament format. Two of the six teams, most likely the considered-to-be more skilled squads, will be sent straight to the semi-finals while the other four battle it out in what would be considered quarterfinal play for a chance to advance.

Here are a look at the teams competing, where they hail from, as well as the times for each match.

A member of Team EnVyUs’ Starcraft 2 organization, has departed North America and will not be competing in the upcoming StarCraft 2 World Championship Series (WCS) Global Playoffs. These playoffs will ultimately conclude with the Finals being held in Anaheim, California on November 4th-5th at BlizzCon. Throughout the 2016 season in the WCS Circuit, Polt placed in the top eight players and was therefore invited to compete in the World Championship Tournament, a significant and impressive feat for competitors of the RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game.

Polt has announced that the reason for his withdrawal is due to a sudden beckoning from his home nation of South Korea to return to the country in order to fulfill mandatory military service. In a press release posted on Team EnVyUs’ website, the Starcraft 2 veteran had this to say: I have been really happy for the past six years. Playing StarCraft 2 and meeting a lot of people in the world gave me plenty of unforgettable memories. I have been able to [accomplish] a great achievement and I appreciate all of the support from [manager Andrew Tomlinson] and Team EnVyUs. Unfortunately, the time has come to say goodbye. However, remember that every ending is a new beginning. I am looking forward to seeing you again soon.”

Although Polt had just joined EnVyUs this past May, he had secured honors in the Starcraft 2 community long before with his first place finish in Poland at the WCS Winter Circuit Championship at IEM (Intel Extreme Masters). As a member of EnVyUs, he racked up high placings in tournaments such as DreamHack Austin along with a second overall finish in Montreal for the WCS Summer Circuit Championship, among others.

Not only has he proven himself as one of the top eSports competitors internationally, he has also been a pioneer of sorts for the industry. Polt was only the second player in history to have been granted a P1-A athletic visa by the United States. Mike “HastrO” Rufail, the CEO of the Team EnVyUs organization, said this regarding the departure of Polt: Today, our entire organization is saddened that Polt must depart from competitive play. Polt has been one of the most iconic and fiercest competitors throughout his career in electronic sports. He will be remembered as a champion. We know he will take that success into whatever the future holds for him and we hope to see Polt back in esports as soon as possible.”